3 Braves free agents who won’t be back next season and why

3. The Braves couldn’t strike gold with Adam Duvall again in 2022

One of the amazing 2021 trade deadline acquisitions by the Braves, Adam Duvall stuck around for the 2022 season as well. The Braves can thank his contract for that. It does expire after this season when the veteran outfielder becomes available in the open market.

Duvall is one of those players the Braves couldn’t seem to quit. They added him in the middle of 2018 and got to know him well in 2019 and 2020. To start 2021, he was with the Miami Marlins doing his usual thing of hitting home runs, driving in runners, and doing it with a low batting average and poor OBP.

This didn’t scare Atlanta off from trading for him. He continued to do those same things with them and somehow managed to lead the league with 113 RBI in 2021. He even managed to win a Gold Glove for them while playing all three outfield positions.

The value Duvall brought to the field will come to a close after this season. He is already out with a season-ending injury. Bringing him back at age 34 in any capacity doesn’t seem to fit well with the rest of the roster. He was not impressive when healthy this season. It’s time to move on; at least until they trade for him again at the deadline.

A few other Braves free agents will leave, too, but these are the biggest. As for Dansby Swanson, he remains the big mystery. How Vaughn Grissom performs to finish off the season should help provide us with some answers.